This has been beat to death, but, DO NOT USE TOUCHLESS CAR WASHES THEY'LL RUIN YOUR PAINT!

dima123

10-20-2006, 11:18 AM

i would hand wash but that takes tooo long...used to do it ; normal carwashes are fine???

its a lease anyway :rofl:

Just Bryce

10-20-2006, 11:21 AM

I think he's crazy, nice guy, but possibly crazy :rofl: I see nothing wrong with the touchless wash, the regular spinning brush wash on the other hand is much more likely to leaves visible marks on your paint. Just keep in mind that this set up is only effective because of the extreme high pressure of the water so a wax job just isn't going to last all that long.

TOGWT

10-20-2006, 02:13 PM

This has been beat to death, but, DO NOT USE TOUCHLESS CAR WASHES THEY'LL RUIN YOUR PAINT!

‘Touch less’ carwash:
Hand washing is MUCH preferred, don’t use an automated car wash period, touch less or not, there are a variety of reasons: You should never, under any circumstances use a car wash that requires you to let another person drive your vehicle onto the ramps or into the wash, notice the disclaimer
“No responsibility for damage to customer’s vehicle.”
Local by-laws require car washes to re-claim or recycle water. This means they have two choices.
a) They can collect the water in tanks and pay to truck it away to a recycling centre.
b) They can filter and then recycle the water (dependant on how often the filters are cleaned/changed) will effect how much dirt content there is. Recycled meaning re-use the same water, which may include any road dirt/grit that is not filtered out is used to high-pressure (1,000PSI) wash your vehicle (somewhat similar to sandblasting) the final rinse is usually twice-filtered re-cycled water, this is to give the appearance of a clean surface on the vehicle.
c) To help clean the recycled water they use a chemical like Presidium Orthophosphate (TSP) and have the chemical formula Na3PO4. It is a highly water-soluble ionic salt. Solutions of it dissolved in water have an alkaline pH; this does a great job stripping your wax / sealant. TSP is generally not good for cleaning vehicles because it can corrode metal.

•To remove snow/sand/road dirt and grit without agitation (brushes etc) requires the use of very strong chemical cleaners.
•Probably the most important is that this type of automatic car wash use high-pressure water and strong alkaline detergent to clean vehicles that will strip the wax/polish
•You will also need to renew the vehicles sealant / wax to ensure the paint surface protection on a regular basis to counteract the effects of the harsh detergents.
•Also be aware of those that use ‘wheel guides’ as they will cause scratches / etching to the wheel surfaces, as many wash facilities will not accommodate either the tyre width or the clearance, thus causing sidewall damage
•Vehicle with lower than ‘standard’ suspension (Corvette C6 and other sports cars) should also be aware the wheel guides could cause body damage
•As an alternative in colder winter months I would suggest using a waterless vehicle cleaning product Protect All’s Quick Easy Wash (QEW)
•If you get a chance, attend a car wash / wax vendors symposiums where they give demonstrations of the different soap products that these type of facilities use (as a Chemical Engineer they scared me) You'll come away a convert to never using them again, on any vehicle.

r6girl

10-20-2006, 02:27 PM

‘Touch less’ carwash:
Hand washing is MUCH preferred, don’t use an automated car wash period, touch less or not, there are a variety of reasons: You should never, under any circumstances use a car wash that requires you to let another person drive your vehicle onto the ramps or into the wash, notice the disclaimer
“No responsibility for damage to customer’s vehicle.”
Local by-laws require car washes to re-claim or recycle water. This means they have two choices.
a) They can collect the water in tanks and pay to truck it away to a recycling centre.
b) They can filter and then recycle the water (dependant on how often the filters are cleaned/changed) will effect how much dirt content there is. Recycled meaning re-use the same water, which may include any road dirt/grit that is not filtered out is used to high-pressure (1,000PSI) wash your vehicle (somewhat similar to sandblasting) the final rinse is usually twice-filtered re-cycled water, this is to give the appearance of a clean surface on the vehicle.
c) To help clean the recycled water they use a chemical like Presidium Orthophosphate (TSP) and have the chemical formula Na3PO4. It is a highly water-soluble ionic salt. Solutions of it dissolved in water have an alkaline pH; this does a great job stripping your wax / sealant. TSP is generally not good for cleaning vehicles because it can corrode metal.

•To remove snow/sand/road dirt and grit without agitation (brushes etc) requires the use of very strong chemical cleaners.
•Probably the most important is that this type of automatic car wash use high-pressure water and strong alkaline detergent to clean vehicles that will strip the wax/polish
•You will also need to renew the vehicles sealant / wax to ensure the paint surface protection on a regular basis to counteract the effects of the harsh detergents.
•Also be aware of those that use ‘wheel guides’ as they will cause scratches / etching to the wheel surfaces, as many wash facilities will not accommodate either the tyre width or the clearance, thus causing sidewall damage
•Vehicle with lower than ‘standard’ suspension (Corvette C6 and other sports cars) should also be aware the wheel guides could cause body damage
•As an alternative in colder winter months I would suggest using a waterless vehicle cleaning product Protect All’s Quick Easy Wash (QEW)
•If you get a chance, attend a car wash / wax vendors symposiums where they give demonstrations of the different soap products that these type of facilities use (as a Chemical Engineer they scared me) You'll come away a convert to never using them again, on any vehicle.

wow. great information - thanks for sharing! :thumbup:

i haven't taken my X3 to any automated car wash, nor do i ever plan to now...

schley

10-22-2006, 12:50 AM

‘Touch less’ carwash:
Hand washing is MUCH preferred, don’t use an automated car wash period, touch less or not, there are a variety of reasons: You should never, under any circumstances use a car wash that requires you to let another person drive your vehicle onto the ramps or into the wash, notice the disclaimer
“No responsibility for damage to customer’s vehicle.”
Local by-laws require car washes to re-claim or recycle water. This means they have two choices.
a) They can collect the water in tanks and pay to truck it away to a recycling centre.
b) They can filter and then recycle the water (dependant on how often the filters are cleaned/changed) will effect how much dirt content there is. Recycled meaning re-use the same water, which may include any road dirt/grit that is not filtered out is used to high-pressure (1,000PSI) wash your vehicle (somewhat similar to sandblasting) the final rinse is usually twice-filtered re-cycled water, this is to give the appearance of a clean surface on the vehicle.
c) To help clean the recycled water they use a chemical like Presidium Orthophosphate (TSP) and have the chemical formula Na3PO4. It is a highly water-soluble ionic salt. Solutions of it dissolved in water have an alkaline pH; this does a great job stripping your wax / sealant. TSP is generally not good for cleaning vehicles because it can corrode metal.

•To remove snow/sand/road dirt and grit without agitation (brushes etc) requires the use of very strong chemical cleaners.
•Probably the most important is that this type of automatic car wash use high-pressure water and strong alkaline detergent to clean vehicles that will strip the wax/polish
•You will also need to renew the vehicles sealant / wax to ensure the paint surface protection on a regular basis to counteract the effects of the harsh detergents.
•Also be aware of those that use ‘wheel guides’ as they will cause scratches / etching to the wheel surfaces, as many wash facilities will not accommodate either the tyre width or the clearance, thus causing sidewall damage
•Vehicle with lower than ‘standard’ suspension (Corvette C6 and other sports cars) should also be aware the wheel guides could cause body damage
•As an alternative in colder winter months I would suggest using a waterless vehicle cleaning product Protect All’s Quick Easy Wash (QEW)
•If you get a chance, attend a car wash / wax vendors symposiums where they give demonstrations of the different soap products that these type of facilities use (as a Chemical Engineer they scared me) You'll come away a convert to never using them again, on any vehicle.

This the detail forum's version of Skard Straight!

jb1318

10-23-2006, 01:30 PM

Hey Schley,

Try Miracle Hand Wash in Oceanside. Just went there for the first time this weekend. Did a pretty solid job.

after reading above more closely, i am a bit concerned now regarding the wheel guides...Miracle Hand Wash does have wheel guides that guide it through the wash though...and i just discovered a scratch on one of my rims, but it is a long thin scratch that I dont think the wheel guides could have caused...just be cautious but they did a fine job washing the car

joyriiide1113

10-23-2006, 01:40 PM

1000 PSI similar to sand blasting. Halarious but oh soo wrong...

The only drawback on touchless washes is the strong detergents used (should not be a problem if properly sealed with Zaino, collinite, duragloss, ect). On top of that is the issue of it not fully cleaning the vehicle...

I'm an avid detailer that I frequently monitor such things, and here in florida when it rains and rains and theres no sense in washing because its just gonna rain again, a touchless wash gets me through the week to get the majority of the dirt of... It helps.

Its not gonna leave your car perfect, but in tight situations its the best option and better than swirl-o-matics that use dirty spinning brushes. In fact, its even better than taking it to a hand car wash, as those fools re-use the same mitts, towels, ect on your car followed by horrible technique that in the end, on any color other than white ruins the finish.

Wash your car weekly yourself. If u want to be BASIC buy a zaino kit and protect your vehicle. If for some reason you need to rinse the vehicle off, do not worry yourself and just drive thru the touch-free wash.

If I lives in a colder state and I had to deal with salty snowy roads, I'd probably touch-free wash my car 2 tiems a week followed by a QEW in the garage.

Its at an Exxon station but is brushless...you drive through but are placed on wheel guides for the duration of the wash. I used it once a while back and it was a decent wash. Just know though I am no car detailing expert like joyriide above.

jb1318

10-23-2006, 02:06 PM

Which is worse for your car paint, a hand car wash or automatic brush car wash?

Marcellus

10-24-2006, 06:58 PM

I've had some discoloration (clouding) of the plastic/chrome trim around windows on VW and Audi products that I attributed to touchless car washes. I tried many things to correct.